ChIPs stands for “chiefs in intellectual property,” a key position in corporations overseeing issues surrounding patents, copyrights, trademarks and other areas of law central to innovation. It’s a position that, historically, few women have held. IP chiefs typically have both a technical degree, such as engineering or computer science, coupled with a law degree. Given the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields, this area of the law has persistently suffered from a wide gender gap.

While our community is much broader than the IP specialists who formed it, we are still ChIPsters — and we think of everyone in our ever-growing network as our ChIPster sisters.